Capilano University psychologist Leonard George, who is well-versed in hypnotherapy and meditation, practised being a medium in the town of Lily Dale in upstate New York, which has been a hotbed of seances and spiritualism since the early 1800s.

Earlier posting: Capilano University psychologist Leonard George is not afraid to take risks. He goes where most conventional psychologist do not dare – into the parapsychological. And he’s willing to do it in public.

A talented writer and speaker and one-time clinical psychologist at Vancouver General Hospital, George will give a talk at 11:30 a.m. on October 31, Halloween Day — on his summer training to be a “medium,” a person who uses clairvoyance to communicate with spirits of the dead.

George, who is well-versed in hypnotherapy and meditation and the history of parapsychology (aka the paranormal), practised being a medium in the town of Lily Dale in upstate New York, which has been a hotbed of seances and spiritualism since the early 1800s.

The Capilano University psychology club decided to hold George’s talk on Halloween, which neo-pagans believe is a “thin day,” when the protective layer between the living and the dead is weakest.

The talk is titled “THE MEDIUM’S APPRENTICE ~ A PSYCHOLOGIST EXPLORES SPIRITUALISM FROM THE INSIDE. It’s in LB 322, sponsored by The Psychocentrics: Capilano University.

Spiritualism: a religion (founded in 19th century America, now world-wide) based on the belief that it is possible for the living to contact the dead.

Medium: a specialist in passing messages from the dearly departed to the living, and in giving other evidence for the reality of a spirit world.

What does it feel like to be a medium? What do mediums experience when they “meet a spirit”?

Dr. Leonard George, a faculty member of the Capilano University Psychology Department, decided to find out. This past summer he journeyed to a village of Spiritualists in upstate New York to be trained by renowned medium Dr. Judith Rochester.

He figured he could study the psychological processes of mediumistic experience from the inside, and, just maybe, get to talk to dead people.

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